Re: filmscanners: Nikon MF LED light source...

[rafeb <rafeb@channel1.com>]

At 06:42 PM 7/16/01 -0000, Lynn Allen wrote:

>Does anyone on the List know a good source for these? I for one would pay a 
>few dollars (US, and cash ;-) ) for one that detailed the HP 5000-6800 
>flatbed scanners. I may not be an engineer, but (at least so far) my hands 
>and my brain still work. Which is more than I can say for my warranty and my 
>HP scanner. :-)


The problem is that even if you had complete schematics, 
and could understand them, what would you do with that 
information?

Most modern electronic gear costs huge amounts of money 
to design, but very little to build.  The "main" board 
of a printer or scanner probably is a surface mount 
board with one or two proprietary ASICs on it, and 
a handful of passive components.

So what are you going to do with that "service" manual?

Things like potentiometers and setscrews have largely 
disappeared.  Pots have been replaced by software 
calibration routines (with results stored in EEPROM or 
Flash memory) and setscrews replaced by optical sensors.

Fact is, most of this stuff is designed with one 
goal: to be mass-produced cheaply.  Servicing is 
very low on the priority list.  The assumption is 
that it's cheaper to replace than to fix.

Here's a fact:  typical Lexmark print engines are 
sold to OEMs for $15-$20.  Ditto for flatbed scanner 
mechanisms.  There's no point fixing such a beast; 
it's just not cost-effective.

The warning on the bottom is largely true: "No user-
servicable parts inside."


rafe b.